Why Apple Nixed My iPhone App
techflash.com
techflash.com
I think that Apple is running into the same problem that the patent office has. Everybody can't be an expert on everything, and it's increasingly expensive to hire experts to do mind-numbingly boring work like shuffling through applications (software or patent) to approve based on rather broad criteria. Not only that, but there is pressure to just push things through the pipeline (whether they are approved or rejected).
In this case, it's entirely possible that the employee that rejected the app knows there is a program called Bitwise, and thought that this app was trying to tag along on that popularity (I guess?) not realizing that bitwise is a generic term. It might be a different story if he was naming his app Bitwise, vs just adding it as a search keyword.
But all of this could be solved through 2-way communication and making AppStore developers feel like valued business partners -- they are business partners with Apple afterall. Even the US Patent Office -- for all its ills -- has an amount of communication between the patent reviewer and the patent applicant.
If the AppStore reviewer fired off an email or phone call to the developer saying, "Your app seems great, but we don't like the keyword 'bitwise' in there because it's referring to another application," the developer could immediately respond with, "But 'bitwise' is a generic term that describes the functionality of my app. Wikipedia/Google it."
As it stands, the developer feels like Apple is talking down to him/her from 'on high,' decreeing that this app does not seem worthy of the AppStore. Without communication, the developer feels powerless to affect the outcome of the approval process, and gets frustrated at minor details like this which would probably be cleared up over a couple of emails instead of forcing the developer to resubmit his app in the 'Apple approved way' (even though his way might be perfectly fine, and the reviewer was only mistaken).
From outward appearances it doesn't look like the AppStore reviewers are even talking to each other! Each one is zealously applying their own capricious interpretation of the policies to deny apps.
Apple has these rules, they pointed it out to the developer, and let him resubmit his application. Only a complete moron would compare this to fascism and what happened in Italy. I guess it is only a certain law stopping you from comparing them to another figure.
E.g. When people have a bad experience at the theatre, the only ones who complain at the service desk are those who will return regardless.
The people who've had enough just quietly walk out and never return.
On the other hand, in this case it was a search keyword, not a word in the description.
They could add a disclaimer to reserve the right to remove inappropriate keywords.
Asking the developer to do so and resubmit the app is a waste of time for both parties.
Android, anyone?